


Babe What We've Got is Volatile

by RobinNightngale



Series: Brentwood [6]
Category: Batman (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Robin (Comics)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-07
Updated: 2014-06-07
Packaged: 2018-02-03 17:18:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1752593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinNightngale/pseuds/RobinNightngale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A bad idea from the school administration leads to brothers, bad language, and baffling situations.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Babe What We've Got is Volatile

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Star_Nymph](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Nymph/gifts).



> Prompt for ephemeraltea, where Dick visits the school and teases Jason and meets Tim? Bonus points if Bruce shows up at some point!

    Under normal circumstances Jason had no problems understanding what the teachers here at Brentwood said, it was rarely anything he didn’t expect, mostly lessons or praise on his dedication to pursuing his college dreams.  That’s exactly why when the words ‘science fair’ fell out of the teacher’s mouth, Jay actually considered getting his hearing checked.  There was no way in hell that the administration here had that many missing brain cells to think that letting a school made _specifically_ for problem kids could think a science fair came anywhere near being a good idea.

    Snapping back to reality, Jay heard the teacher continue on, “You will be working in groups of twos so everyone can have a chance of also improving their teamwork skills. And before all of you make eye contact with your close friend, we’ve already randomly assigned you all, and no you can’t switch or trade.”

The classroom let out a collective groan at that, Jason amongst them.  As the woman called out groups he thought over the idea, this whole setup could work either really well for him with a partner that would let take over, or it’d be a total train wreck with someone fighting him the entire way.  “Jason Todd and Timothy Drake.” His head shot up so fast that he was pretty sure the entire room heard the way his neck cracked.  Life couldn’t be playing a crueler trick, there was no way he had heard her right.

But as he looked over at the smaller boy and saw him staring, he knew he’d heard correctly.  Somehow he’d have to find it in himself to not get completely distracted while working with the kid and, who knows, possibly blow them both up.

“Now everyone go talk with their partners and start planning what you’ll be working on with them.”  The teacher sniffed and waved an almost dismissive hand at the crowd of students grumbling around her.

Jay glanced at the boy and sighed when he saw him just staring at his hands, he’d have to make the move over to his desk apparently.  The best way to deal with this, Jason decided, was to treat him like every other kid and _not_ as if he was interested at all. It made sense as he wasn’t gonna be here long and couldn’t placate his little crush, he reminded himself of this again and again.

“Well hello there Mr. Bad Boy, guess we’re working together.”

The kid nearly jumped out of his skin, as his eyes darted up to lock on him, “I.. um, hi..”

Plopping himself down in the seat opposite him, he gave him his most reassuring smile he could, the one reserved to victims when he was Robin. “So Tim right, you got any ideas on what we might want to do?”

“Dunno.. I’ve got nothing…” The other boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, he bit his lip as if he was holding back slightly.

“Well I’m up for anything, especially if I get to blow shit up.” He knew the referencing their previous encounter might not be the smartest idea, but it’d get some reaction from his new partner at least, give him something to work with.

Tim stiffened at the words and chewed on his lip a bit more before letting his eyes focus on a spot right over Jason’s shoulder, “Well… I did have an idea… but it’s well, it could easily turn into something more than we can manage, and it’d need a lot of space, and a lot of equipment and I seriously can’t figure out how we’d manage that,” the boy rattled it off at a speed Jay’d only seen him insult teachers with.

“Let me worry about that, I want to hear your idea.” The way he talked, it sparked something in Jason, he wanted to hear what interested Tim, much more than he’d ever like to admit.

“Well.. I was thinking a recreation of the volcanic eruption that happened at Pompeii, it’d be slightly challenging but doable, considering the recreation of the city and the chemical compounds we’d need to create to get the effects of both the ash and the explosion. That in its own right should be enough to meet the criteria of the project.”  With each word his eyes got brighter and his voice grew in confidence, and with each word Jason decided that this was the side of Tim that he wanted to see more and more of.

In all honesty, Jason was mildly surprised that Tim was suggesting such a work intensive project.  From what the other had observed he was brilliant but extremely selective about what he applied himself to, ie anything that _actually_ held his interest.  The possibility of working with Tim in his element gave him a stupid grin plastered on his face.

“I think we can pull it off.”

“W-What..?” Tim looked shocked at the response, almost as unbelieving that Jay would actually like his idea.

“I can put in a few calls, but how about tomorrow I arrange us getting picked up and we can get a more appropriate workspace?”  Chances were that Alfred wouldn’t mind coming to pick them up, and then taking them out to get supplies. Besides, he sorta missed all the amenities that came with a masterful kitchen that made something that didn’t originate from a box.

“Really? I mean.. okay sure, if it’s not imposing or anything..” Tim pulled slightly on the sleeves of his hoodie.

“Yeah sure.”  Just as the words left his mouth, he felt his blood run cold.  He was pretty much bringing the kid home to meet the family, which wouldn’t be so bad if he was trying to keep his feelings from developing or Tim picking up.

“When should we meet up?”  

The sound of Tim’s voice brought him out of his own headspace, his eyes snapping to meet the boys, “Oh um, how about like ten?  That way we’ve got as much time tomorrow as we need.”  Tim nodded in agreement.  Jason could handle this project, he just needed to think of it as another way to bolster his grade, and not some way to spend more time with the younger boy.  Nothing could go wrong if he kept his focus.

  
  


Jason fidgeted slightly as he sat on the concrete steps in front of one the main buildings, burrowing deeper in his leather jacket while he waited for the other boy to show up.  He didn’t have to wait long thankfully, as a smaller body plopped down, a backpack bumping against him slightly.

“Made it just in time,” he chuckled as he motioned to a dark car pulling up by them, “Our ride’s a bit early.”  The pair stood up and began to walk towards it as the door opened. “Hey Alfie! It’s nice to…”  He stopped dead in his tracks as he stared at the dark haired man beaming at him as he leaned against the open car door, “Aw hell…”

“Little Wing, like I’d give up the opportunity of coming here and picking you and your… _friend_... up.”

At this precise moment, Jason was thinking of about a thousand and one different ways he could somehow get out of this by killing Dick. There wasn’t a chance that’d he’d get out of this alive, it was at least a fifteen minute car ride that he’d be trapped in with his older brother who had knowledge of his crush on the other occupant.

Dick stuck out his hand to Tim as he opened up one of the back doors, “Dick, older brother, nice to meet you.”

“Um, Tim, classmate, it’s a pleasure.” He shook the man’s hand tentatively before sliding into the car.

Jay grumbled and slid into the passenger seat and slammed the car door as Dick rounded the car and got behind the wheel beaming. The car ride was silent and, besides a few looks the older brother shot at his younger, Dick concentrated on the road until they got off of school grounds.

“So, Timmy, when do you turn eighteen? Jay here isn’t yet.  He’s still the family baby.”  Dick made a motion to grab Jay’s cheek, to which Jay responded with a growl.

“I um.. Well not for another three years… I’m fifteen.”

Never had Jason ever been so glad they were approaching a red light as he was jerked forward, seatbelt going taunt from Dick suddenly applying the brakes liberally.  Without another thought, Dick leaned into the boy massaging his shoulder and hissed, “He’s, jail, bait.”  Before Jay could say a word in his defense and Dick could think, the words were already out, “I forbid you.” As soon as Jason’s eyes narrowed, the older man regretted saying with every fiber of his being.

“Not chasing, brother dearest,” he snarled under his breath as Dick remembered to look up and actually apply the gas instead.  The urge to spite the man’s words just to shut his trap was overwhelming, but unfortunately he had already been on the same page as him.  Robin provided enough of a hindrance to his normal work load, that he didn’t need the complications of some high school love interest sucking up the rest of his nonexistent free time.

Dick tried to get his smile back on his face as he looked into the rearview mirror, “Did Jay pick you or did science partners get assigned?”

“We were assigned,” Tim frowned slightly as they sped through the city towards the manor, "Why would Jason pick me?”

A new record was set for fastest emotional flip flop as a smirk flashed dangerously over Dick’s lips, “Really? He’s highly impressed with you, my baby brother is a hard sell, too. You’ve got to be _pretty_ impressive to make him see stars.”

For the second time in two days Jason’s head snapped up quick enough to send tiny bursts of pain through the back of his neck, cheeks slowly burning at Dick’s words, “What the everloving fuck is wrong with you?!  Jesus fuck Dick! You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!!”

Tim looked between the two, confusion and utter disbelief flashing across his face as Dick started laughing.  “Awwww! Did you think that no one would have overheard the way you were gushing to Alfred about this little project you two are working on? That’s so adorable Jaybird, but seriously you were talking loud enough and with enough verbal hand waving that I’m pretty sure even Bruce heard about how you two’d make Pompeii explode.”

Jason looked utterly pale as they moved past the gate and towards the manor’s garage, the grin on Dick’s face having grown impossibly large.  As they all stepped out he glanced at his older brother and his stomach dropped, that grin only meant one thing.

“Oh and by the way, try not to make too much of a mess. You'll have to clean each other up."

It took less than two seconds for Jason to be around to the driver’s side, clearing the few rows of cars Dick had managed to pass, and moving to grip his arm.  Without even a second thought the man spun around and danced out of his brother’s grasp, laughing.  “Play nice you two!!” he shouted out before racing off, getting quickly away from the fury he had insighted.

“I’m going to kill him, I’m going to beat him to death with one of my books that _doesn’t_ have blood on it!”

“...Is it actually rare that you don’t have blood splatter along a spine?”  Tim had approached to stop at his elbow, the sound of his voice making him leap right out of his skin.

“Um, well sometimes.  It depends on how big of an ass my... dad’s been.”

That actually got a laugh from Tim, “My word, I can see why you ended up in Brentwood then.”

“Shut up…” Jay grumbled, sinking his hands into his pockets as he weaved his way through the hallways, trying to find out where Alfred might have placed their supplies while attempting to suppress the way his face was feeling hot.

It seemed like the dining room had been converted into a giant plastic bubble, paper mache, model building kits, paint, modelable wiring, and chemicals were all placed carefully on the table in what seemed like thought out stations.  Alfred had severely outdone himself and from the look of awe frozen on his face, Tim agreed.

Without saying a word they set to work, shucking off jackets, rolling up sleeves and starting to get the volcano set up.  The younger boy turned out as meticulous as his partner, standing and frowning at the wiring before moving it an inch, and repeating the process until he was satisfied.  Jay chuckled and shook his head as he started getting his hands messy in the strips of paper mache, they’d be utterly covered even before they touched the paint and models.

The silence between them was actually comfortable, it was something that Jason could get very used to.  Tim at his side, working in tandem with a fluidness that gave him shivers. That was, until he could feel something in the air palpably change.

Slowly, the boy looked up and his eyes widened, Bruce was standing in the doorway.  The man’s face was taut, something straining in it, something waring in his head.  Jason frowned, there was recognition in his eyes.  He swallowed hard and followed his line of sight, a wave of cold consuming as the line connected with Tim's gaze.  But he didn’t meet Jason’s, all his eyes saw were Bruce’s stare, all they were was recognition and suppressed fear.  Something was happening, and it was making the hair on the back of Jay’s neck prickle.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Bruce tugged at the collar of his shirt, at a loss it seemed  for which one of his personas were appropriate for this situation.

“A, um, pleasure… sir,” Tim shook his head and gave a small shy smile, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Jason was officially lost, he was almost positive that they were talking in some code, but that made zero fucking sense.  They’d never met, unless… unless Tim had been following them more than that one time, and… and he actually _knew_ who they were. That’d mean Bruce had either known the whole time or had been suspicious, and this had confirmed it.  Oh this was making his head hurt.  

“What are you boys working on?”  Bruce’s question brought him out of his head space, as Tim launched into an explanation of the chemicals they were working on to the bewilderment of the man in front of them, who was probably more amused than anything else.

“Basically we big boom Brucie,” Jay snapped.

“Big bada boom,” Tim mumbled.  The smile that grew on Jay’s lips couldn’t be helped, it had taken all his willpower not spaz at the reference.

Bruce shook his head, chuckling, “Just don’t make too much of a mess, we have to eat here later.”

Tim stopped, about to return to eyeing the now gloopy looking volcano, “Am I… Staying for dinner?”

“Of course, it’s not often that we get Jason and one of his friends over.”

The two boys eyed each other nervously, but didn’t say a word as the older man walked off, unsure of exactly where that comment left them. “We should, uh… get back to working… the more we get done now the better…” Jay mumbled, resisting the urge to run his hand through his hair and add some colored paint to his already streaked mess.  A terse nod and a couple of hours later, the volcano sat on an end table drying along with a good portion of the models, very far away from the food being scarfed down.

Alfred eyed the two boys stuffing their faces with very little concern for how much _actually_ entered their mouths.  Dick snickered as Tim swallowed hard before chugging some Zesti, “Jason, where the hell does your boy keep it all, he’s like a bottomless pit!”

“He’s got a hole in his foot, not unlike the one in your head,” Jay snapped back without missing a beat.

All that achieved him was more laughter and a disapproving looking from Alfred that meant he’d be the one cleaning all the plates tonight.  It was a fair trade for jabbing back at his dickhead of a brother and his stupid ideas.

Surprisingly enough, the rest of the night proceeded without too many problems, or as much as could be expected in their family.  Dick cooed the entire time Jay washed up, only stopping when he got a squirt of dish soap in his mouth, and a few hours after the boys were able to get most of the project done.  Alfred would transport it the morning of and make sure it got to the gym in one piece, something that neither of them could actually guarantee.

Brentwood loomed in the distance as Alfred drove the long black car up the winding road, shadowing the pair in the backseat deep in their own thoughts.  Even throughout the mumbled goodbyes and trudging to his dorm, Jason couldn’t shake the weight on him.  Was the recognition he saw between Bruce and Tim because his theory, or was he just avoiding his schoolboy crush in new and inventively creep ways?  Whatever it was, he was almost positive it would end in him going sleepless from too much brain activity.

To his complete and utter surprise, he awoke the next day, arms flailing and feeling mildly rested as he hopped into a pair of pants and raced off towards the school’s gymnasium.  He _would_ have the special type of luck that made his alarm malfunction today of all days.

Skidding up next to Tim, he tried to fix his tie, the science teachers chosen to judge the event only two tables away.  Cold eyes bored into his very soul as he turned around, just a tiny bit scared for his safety.  “If you had waited any longer I would have told them I threw you in the volcano,” Tim hissed, annoyance coming off him in waves.

“Sorry sorry, this doesn’t happen normally.  Besides, when did the bad boy start caring?”

“When he actually put effort into the project, consider it my one hit wonder,” he shot back at him right before the group of adults approached them.

They stood at attention as the judges approached them, giving each other one more anxious look. This was it.  
  



End file.
